Hanbun (in Westmont)

I was surprised to find just one mention of Hanbun here, but it looks promising enough that I thought I'd start a thread. Fancy-pants suburban strip-mall Korean, apparently from vets of Takashi and Aviary, among other places? Sounds good to me, and what little I've seen online at the very least looks great. As for how it tastes, they offer an ambitious evening tasting menu which I'll be trying in a couple of weeks, so I can report back then, but in the meantime, has anyone else been?

A couple of links from a couple of the usual suspects:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/hanbun-david-park-korean-westmont-suburbs-international-plaza/Content?oid=23258296

http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/restaurants/ct-cheap-eats-hanbun-food-0406-20160330-story.html

Hanbun
665 Pasquinelli Drive, Unit 108 (in the International Mall)
Westmont, IL 60559
630.948.3383
http://www.hanbunrestaurant.com

Wow do I need to try this! Thank you for the find!

I enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Hanbun recently with my son, a lover of all things Korean. Without Jefe’s May 2016 post, we never would have discovered this place.
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=510153#p510153

Jefe wrote: Originally tipped off by Nick Kindelsperger's increasingly vital coverage of "cheap eats" for the Trib and then reminded by the Korean food mafia on Instagram, I reluctantly passed my usual exit of Midwest Road to cheat on Katy and eat another's noodles in Westmont. Has anyone around here been to the food court at the International Plaza? Its about as deserted-feeling as the Richland Center in Chinatown, though at least with a beam or two of natural light.

Jefe's full post encouraged me to seek out this gem when my son was taking me to lunch and I could pick the place. Hanbun is not is a fancy mall, but tucked inside the International Mall in Westmont. You won’t be going here for the atmosphere, because you are in the middle of a busy food court, but we tried almost everything on the 9-item lunch menu and we’ll be back. My favorite were the toasted rice cake skewers; crispy & chewy rice cake, sweet chili glaze, puffed amaranth.



We chatted with Chef and Owner, David Park, and his fiancée, Owner Jennifer Tran. We met Jennifer’s Mom too. They were so warm and welcoming. We talked about how they chose this unassuming location. David mentioned that Jennifer lives in Westmont and they were looking for a slower pace from the Chicago scene. (Both attended The Culinary Institute of America and worked at Takashi and other Michelin rated restaurants). But, just the opposite has happened and now, a little reluctantly, they are busier than ever.

In addition to lunch, you can reserve a Juhnyuk Tasting. This BYOB dinner for your group of 6 to 9 people is a private event. They described the menu as Global food with Korean influences. You're tucked in a room near the kitchen, not out in the food court so it would feel more like a family dinner. When we talked this past fall, they were booked through April. I don’t remember the price, but I remember my first thought was gathering my family to plan such an evening.

Our upcoming tasting menu is $72 a person for I believe 7 dishes. BYO.

I finally made it to Hanbun this past week and came away very impressed. We shared a number of items.

The pork belly bun was fantastic. The bun itself was so soft and fresh and seemed homemade. And as Jefe noted in his post, the combination of rich, tender pork belly with acid makes for a wonderful treat. Note these buns are pretty large and good for sharing. They'll cut them in half for you.

The vegetable pancake is also fantastic - very crispy and served with a soy sauce laced with ample amounts of hot chiles.

I loved the spicy rice cakes, which also featured plenty of fish balls and some nice funk and heat. This was probably my favorite item.

The jjajjangmyun was also excellent. We debated whether we preferred this version to the one at Great Seas. I preferred this version a little, one friend preferring Great Seas' version (my second favorite thing at Great Seas after the wings).

Finally, we shared the Korean Table which is slightly more complicated to share, but they'll give you smaller bowls to divide the soup. This comes with small orders of panchan, barley rice and a kimchi soup. All were terrific, with the kimchi soup being particularly great. Overall, a fantastic meal. Far for me for lunch, but I've visited around here before for Katie's so I'm sure I'll return.

Our tasting meal last night was excellent. Didn't take pictures and barely remember the descriptions of the deceptively complex dishes, but there was not a loser among the five or so (plus dessert) served. I recall an impressive variation on tartare, a fried shellfish ball, a truly spectacular, earthy, Asian take on risotto with barley, mushrooms and edamame and ... the rest of the dishes sort of slip my mind, not because they were forgettable, just because I was too in the moment enjoying them. Each was beautifully presented and very creative in their occasionally not traditional uses of traditional Korean ingredients.

It was a pretty fun experience overall, too. You arrive at the International Plaza strip mall shortly before closing, and they set you up more or less in the kitchen at a large table, in view of the work space and next to the fridge and freezers. Jennifer works the front of house (as such) and David mans the kitchen. Both were extremely nice and accommodating, like being served at someone's home. We got the last tasting meal of the year, apparently, but given the wait for a spot (I think they said they typically do tastings 4 nights of the week) I highly recommend queuing up now. In the meantime, I can't wait to go back for lunch.

Hanbun closing Korean-inspired chef-driven food court stall in February
http://trib.in/2zKna8r

I have made a monthly visit here since the summer, and this is rather shattering news, though with some hope of a re-emergence further east. The Korean table entree has never been the same twice for me, with a variety of excellent banchan and stews (most commonly the zucchini and bean curd, which is almost like an Italian comfort food my grandmother made with polenta). The warm silken tofu with gochujang and Korean-style dashi is a favorite, as are the pork bao and the grilled rice sticks. This place has offered exceptional value in a perfect little operation that deserves a wider audience (and, to hear it, a better landlord). In related news, there goes another one of my pending GNR nominations.

I'm 15 minutes from there and have gone several times, and I can see their issues with the space. It's a weird little food mart kind of space that seems way behind the times. Probably a great price, but not state of the art in any way (or in any era post-1995, probably).

The Chinese BBQ meat place a couple stalls to the left of Hanbun is a quite worthy alternative.

Korean plate for lunch today. Lotus root, squid, tofu, soup (not sure what it was tasted like miso and it has tofu, bamboo shoots, and what looked like zucchini in it), mushrooms, and barley rice.

So so so so so good.

https:www.chicagotribune.com%2Fdining%2Fct-food-hanbun-owners-opening-jeong-0913-story.html

Former Hanbun owners to open Jeong restaurant in former Green Zebra location

Cathy2 wrote:https:www.chicagotribune.com%2Fdining%2Fct-food-hanbun-owners-opening-jeong-0913-story.html

Former Hanbun owners to open Jeong restaurant in former Green Zebra location

Jeong, ambitious new Korean restaurant from Hanbun owners, opening Friday in West Town

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Dave148 wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:https:www.chicagotribune.com%2Fdining%2Fct-food-hanbun-owners-opening-jeong-0913-story.html

Former Hanbun owners to open Jeong restaurant in former Green Zebra location

Jeong, ambitious new Korean restaurant from Hanbun owners, opening Friday in West Town

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/c ... story.html

Pretty excited for this. Made a reservation for dinner on March 15 and will be opting for the tasting menu.